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“Even if, at the moment, you can’t sit down and do the gruntwork of stringing verbs and nouns together, you are writing. It is a way of seeing, a way of being. The world is not only the world, but your personal filing cabinet. You lodge details of the world in your sparkling nerve-library that spirals through your brain and coils down your arms and legs, collects in your belly and your sex. You write, even if you can’t always “write.”
However, writers write. Active, not passive.”
― Luis Alberto Urrea, Six Kinds of Sky: A Collection of Short Fiction via GoodreadsWednesday, October 7, 2015 – Today was sunny and I am happy to share these photos of moss roses and a couple of honeybees taking a drink at the little feature I have to share water with the wildlife (and some of the neighbors’ wandering pets) that visit my place. Day 7 of OcPoWriMo’s prompt is here and it asks us to consider a decision that we have made that we are happy with as we travel this road of life and come to a fork in the road. One of my happy decisions was to extend the daily photo project that I began in January of 2012 longer than a year. This has lead me to writing more words and exploring poetry when I found October Poetry Writing Month last year. Yay! “pollen paths for bees
beauty and color in fall
for all to enjoy”
~ Raven Ariana Simons “One of the curanderas in Cuernavaca told me, “If you do not want to join us in Teresita’s work, then you must heal in the power of your own medicine. You must heal them with words. Literature is medicine too.”
~ Luis Alberto Urrea from a reading group guide about writing (in the book) “A Hummingbird’s Daughter”“honeybees drinking
moss roses soaking up sun
a bright autumn day”
~ Raven Ariana SimonsNamaste, Bright Blessings, Namu Amida Butsu ~ Raven

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
~ Margaret MeadTuesday, October 6, 2015 – “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi – October is such a fascinating month for change where I live and today’s prompt for OcPoWriMo is life changes. Changing leaves, temperatures, weather, daylight hours, and moods demonstrate that it is obviously autumn. The higher elevations have been colorful with leaves for a while now and the leaves are transforming and even falling in my neighborhood/micro-climate. Change is apparent in my household, since everyone is adjusting to the death of one of the cats. Cats don’t like change. I ran across this quote that I found to be filled with synchronicity because of yesterday’s loss and my photos today are of hazel leaves beginning to change, “Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars on GoodreadsI chose today’s photos because, not only do they demonstrate the change of seasons, they look mysterious at the same time. Change brings mystery, because we can only know it as we experience it or it wouldn’t be “change” it would be “same”. Though really, if you are fully present in the “now” is anything ever exactly the same? The nature of life is change, transformation, and impermanence. Just like no two snowflakes are exactly alike, no two autumns are the same, and no two hazel leaves are identical. Life is a mystery of change and impermanence and each moment is unique. The mystery unfolds each minute in time as you experience it. The important thing is to be present in the moment. This way you can fully experience the gift of your life, though this can be challenging when you are experiencing loss, grief, sadness, anger, or other uncomfortable feelings. A good saying when times are rough is “that this, too, shall pass”. During difficult moments, I also try and keep alive the hope that painful experiences might help guide my personal transformation towards being a more kind and compassionate person.“dear hazels growing
rooted deeply in the ground
your leaves are changing”
~ Raven Ariana Simons“moment to moment
our very cells transforming
and this too shall pass”
~ Raven Ariana SimonsNamaste, Bright Blessings, Namu Amida Butsu ~ Raven

“Some years ago, I read an article about two people in the arts (alas, I can’t remember who they were) who’d been married for many, many years. Asked for the secret of their long partnership, they said: “We fell straight into conversation when we met, and we haven’t come to the end of that conversation yet.”

I can’t think of a better model for marriage than that. Or of a narrative more romantic . . . .”
~ Terri WindlingMonday, October 5, 2015 – On day 5 of OcPoWriMo and funny enough one of the harder aspects of loving was up on my plate today, choosing to say goodbye. While romantic love between humans is often thought of when we are asked about “LOVE”, there is also the love between family members, friends (including pets), and some of us have love affairs with certain creatures not usually considered sentient (though science is beginning to prove otherwise). Someone I know truly loves a grove of aspen trees. Today I had a super difficult day when I had to choose to have a long-time family member and friend, our Sokoke cat, Zomo, helped over the Rainbow Bridge by our vet. This was traumatic because Zomo didn’t like people, was bonded to me, and freaked out when put in the cat carrier for his final journey as a living soul in this incarnation. Though my act was one of love and compassion, in his eyes it was a betrayal. Even though he was suffering, he didn’t want this to happen to him. The vet assured us that we made the correct choice to end his suffering, though it was one of the hardest compassionate types of choice to make. She couldn’t tell us exactly what was wrong, but assured us that even if we spent thousands of dollars he was unlikely to make it as he was having fluid come up from his deep in his throat with a good chance that it was cancer. He was drowning. I haven’t included a most current photo of Zomo, because the pictures I took today showed him looking rough and not like his beautiful self, though here are a few photos of Zomo and Asad as kittens and adults (Zomo is in back in the cat tree, and that is him in the single kitten photo). Asad was Zomo’s litter-mate and passed from cancer a few years ago. Zomo would have been 10 years old in the spring. Rest in peace my dear friend! Is the Rainbow Bridge made of flowers? “hard to say goodbye
to my faithful furry friends
rest in peace dear ones”
~ Raven Ariana Simons

My photos taken for today include geese and flowers and I chose these because geese mate for life and flowers are often given as tokens of love. Flowers and pollinators make love that allow a great diversity of life to flourish so beautifully on earth.“high in the sky geese
migration is happening
goose pairs mate for life”
~ Raven Ariana Simons“bees share flower love
people love to share flowers
are flowers Earth’s love?”
~ Raven Ariana Simons

“It just may be that the most radical act we can commit is to stay home,” says Terry Tempest Williams. ~ From Terri Windling’s October 1st blog postSaturday, October 3, 2015 – Mostly overcast with some rain today for the 3rd day of OcPoWriMo. While I rarely follow the prompts, in part because my poetry follows my picture project and it seems haiku (as I play with it) a nice fit, I will say that lately my biggest blocks to my creativity and writing have been more physical than emotional (though there are emotional components that arise out of the physical). They have ranged from dsl connection issues (as most of my writing is here on this blog and on pollinator/earth activism pages I manage on fb), old equipment and failed software, and health issues. It is kind of ironic because this blog originally arose from a daily photo project I started on Facebook on January 4, 2012 to help get me up and about after an extended period of illness and being abed. I do have some chronic health issues, like too many people I know, that stem from what I believe to be the way humans live in and treat the earth and all of its creatures (including the plant people). One of the types I have takes down my immune system and it can take quite some time to get better (I’m still in an activation phase of this one). When we live in a world where humans spray poisons to get rid of the plants and animals that they don’t want, we tend to forget that we are poisoning ourselves as well as the creatures we love. All of life is necessary and I believe we need to find our way back to a sacred re-connection to our world and all in it. This includes a connection to where we live and to all of our neighbors (including the plant and other beings). Terri Windling’s blog, Myth and Moor, has been examining the connection to the places we live, our communities, and how we relate to the sacred in these places over the last couple of weeks (September and October). I encourage you to go check it out 🙂“my friends are still here
while the milkweed is turning
it’s migration time”
~ Raven Ariana Simons“This is my living faith, an active faith, a faith of verbs: to question, explore, experiment, experience, walk, run, dance, play, eat, love, learn, dare, taste, touch, smell, listen, speak, write, read, draw, provoke, emote, scream, sin, repent, cry, kneel, pray, bow, rise, stand, look, laugh, cajole, create, confront, confound, walk back, walk forward, circle, hide, and seek.”
~ Terri Tempest Williams“connecting with home
I am tender to spider
and my other friends”
~ Raven Ariana SimonsNamaste, Bright Blessings, Namu Amida Butsu ~ Raven

“Don’t be afraid to be weird, don’t be afraid to be different, don’t worry too much about what other people think. Whatever it is that’s original in you and your work might sometimes make you feel uncomfortable. That probably means you’re on the right track, so just keep going.

Once apon a time (today) I went out in my backyard and met a squirrel. Just for fun, we’ll call him or her Mr. Peanut. The photo at the top of this post was the best and only glimpse you’ll get today of our friend. Mr. Peanut got her/his name because she/he is one of a pair of young squirrels that have been raised in the yard and when I would make a certain sound, as they played, I’d place some peanuts in the arbor vitae because they would always come and chat with me. They’d make cute little chirps, rather than the scoldings or warning barks that I’d previously heard from the neighborhood squirrels. The jays got wise to this trick and started listening in for my special smoochie sounds and would often beat the squirrels to the treats. I always made sure to hide a few extras and I know that the Peanut Pair would find them. I originally bought the peanuts to make friends with the neighborhood crows before I was befriended by the squirrely adolescents. There are many creatures of different types (including the plant people) that inhabit my yard and we’ve had lots of adventures together. I’m not sure what my neighbors think when I’m out and about in yard and neighborhood chatting with my fellow beings. Most likely many find me odd.“the bees are busy
while a wasp tries to sneak in
wasps aren’t invited”
~ Raven Ariana Simons

“The simple truth is that being a creative artist takes courage; it’s not a job for the faint of heart. It takes courage each and every time you put a book or poem or painting before the public, because it is, in fact, enormously revealing.”
~ Terri Windling“a moment of sun
on a changeable fall day
brings out little friends”
~ Raven Ariana SimonsBright Bee Blessings, Namaste, Nama Amida Butsu ~ Raven

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Flashback, Wednesday, November 28, 2012 – This is my pick photo for today and stars the full moon of Reed with a rainbow nimbus and the planet Jupiter overhead 🙂Flashback, Thursday, November 28, 2013 – This is my pick photo for today and it stars one of the last of my neighbor’s little white mums. Happy Thanksgiving!Flashback, Friday, November 28, 2014 – Today the wind was blowing off and on, so I went around and found some leaves still hanging, fluttering in the trees. The first photo shows a leave blowing in the wind in the upper right hand corner.“November closing
autumn leaves take to the air
before the snow flies”
~ Raven Ariana Simons“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
~ Charles Dickens “a lucky spider
is still busy weaving webs
hoping for a meal”
~Raven Ariana SimonsOur hearts give thanks for the Grace in the Universe!
Namaste ~ Raven

“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.”
~ Steve MaraboliFlashback Wednesday, November 21, 2012 – This is my pick photo for today and it stars this evening’s sunset.Flashback Thursday, November 21, 2013 – This is my pick and only photo for today and it stars blossoms on a salvia plant that I purchased this year for my ladies 🙂Friday, November 21, 2014 – Today has been a study of dandelions in my backyard where I found them in all stages of life 🙂“will you remember
a bright yellow face, then poof
when the snow is here?”
~ Raven Ariana Simons“Choose being kind over being right and you’ll be right every time.”
~ Richard Carlson“life in all stages
November dandelions
promising us spring”
~ Raven Ariana SimonsOur hearts give thanks for the Grace in the Universe!
Namaste ~ Raven